Y’know, it’s been some time since I’ve appreciated the beauty of Termena. Last time was when my mom took me here to teach me hunting skills. She knew a lot of tricks that I still use in my daily life to this day, even dealing with people. Back then, being a kid during these times meant I was a bundle of nerves, especially those stories about the Huntair keeping me from venturing out too far and in short, not being able to track down anything. Damn, the forest is stunning.
Traveling through the forest wasn’t going to be easy. After the Grailvine, the options to get to Inwell weren’t as simple as they might seem. Sure, there was a path from the city to the Grailvine, but chances that someone would get attacked would be increased drastically if they went down there. That’s why there would always be someone with an accumulation traveling with us, sooooo, no thanks. Disguising myself before heading back into Inwell is another top priority. Who knows what kinds of accusations would be placed against my ass.
I flipped the hood on my stitched up robe and the wind began to blow against my face as I left. There’s a much, much higher risk of following down the path, but I’d rather not travel through the woods, only to get completely lost. This book is also still with me. There might be someone who’ll be able to translate this. It’s like it’s got a hold on me… My hands and fingers were getting sore dammit…
Shit, something was rustling in the bushes nearby… it’s probably a Fruddia. Their natural food source was going scarce and had to resort to human meat to survive, and gained a newfound taste for it. Of course the minister wouldn’t care about such trivial things, like, I don’t know… introducing a new type of fast reproducing prey into the forest? It would’ve been nice if that were to happen instead of thousands of people dying! Just saying~
People without accumulations can’t outrun a Fruddia. It’s basically impossible. Their hind legs are almost spring-like with their long snouts for finding prey. They have no eyes surprisingly, which people don’t tend to understand since they flail around and panic when they see one either way. However, their blue gray fur makes them easy to spot. They haven’t evolved to change colors due to their sheer speeds. Fruddia tend to charge up an extremely quick pounce by retracting them. My mom actually found a way to use their strike to their disadvantage.
Standing my ground is another thing my mom taught me and staying completely still. A soft creaking sound was emanating from the shrubs. It was charging. Focus is key here to pull this off. I’ll move when ready.
…
Snap!
Instantly, my feet moved on their own to reveal the large tree behind me. The Fruddia bashed his head into the bark and dented it deeply. While its head was still in the wood, I unsheathed my hunter’s knife, dealing a fatal blow to the chest, dispatching it instantly.
“I… did it… I DID IT?!” That was the first creature that I’ve ever killed. Holy shit. I was shaking. Close to death again. I’ve never felt this way before any human, so trembling to a Fruddia? People are far worse monsters than these guys. It was unknown what one would have done with the corpse, as Fruddia meat is rather lean and tastes like ass, the scavengers can have their way with that carcass. I’ll be moving on. I think I'll take one of their teeth, as y’know, a trophy!
Felt much lighter than usual, almost as if the ground was elastic with each step. Was it because Vita brought me back to my body? Could he have remade my body to be in top condition? Doubt it… After all, there’s still that scar, and the bruises from tripping when I took some food from a passerby were still present. Can’t really complain; it’ll help me get there faster anyway.
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Took a while, but finally made it. Constant running and chasing Fruddias left me short of breath. There wasn’t a noticeable change to Inwell, a good sign. I covered my face up as much as possible, and tucked my side bangs into my robe. The only noticeable difference made to the city was the plateau of names displayed at the plaza, where my execution took place.
“Jasper… Camillo… Pascaline… Lucia… Ranku…”
Ha! Using me and others as an example I see? How ironic to see him go out of his way to display such an array of criminals. So far, from what I’ve gathered, the minister is still in office, and nothing here is fixed. Great.
First and foremost, I gotta know if they’re still here. I just have to get there as fast as possible-
“Woah there now, what’s with the urgency, young girl? Looking for someone?”
“SOLAS!?”
“Oh? It appears you know my name! Well, it was pretty obvious, given my badge.”
How in the world does this guy show up everywhere I go? It’s like he’s some sort of ghost haunting me! Whatever. Gotta stay cool in this situation. There’s no room for error here. Simply steer him off and act natural.
“Well anyways, I’ll be heading off! See you later-”
“Now hold on there. Don’t go just yet.”
SHIT! I BLEW IT! I CAN’T BEGIN TO FATHOM HOW OBSERVANT HE IS!
“I can’t leave such a young kid all alone… Let me see if I can find your parents for you.”
Nevermind… Guess he wasn’t paranoid today. That was close…
“Oh… yeah, I would appreciate it a lot. Thank you officer!”
“Glad I could be of service, miss..?”
“Conair. My name is Conair.”
There should be a way to distract him somehow. Being near him always tenses me up. It hinders thinking; He was the only one who could arrest me, which I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing… He asked me where my parents were last seen, and without hesitation, the busiest place in the city was the number one pick.
“If I remember correctly, my dad was in the marketplace core. We should go there first if anything.”
“Great! Let’s see if we can spot your father or mother.”
The silence was loud. Neither of us made a single sound. Solas was a bit pale… I wonder if something happened to him…
“Staring at me a bit much? What’s stealing your glance?”
“Huh?! Oh, sorry officer, it’s just that you were looking a bit down. Is there something wrong?”
Guess staring at him for too long was a step in the wrong direction… Hopefully following up with these questions can keep his mind off of my appearance.
“Yeah, you’re right, Conair. My job’s getting a bit tough on me as of late.”
“Oh… Well, I’m sorry to hear about that… I hope your duty to protect continues to bear fruit.”
“Thank you. That made me feel a bit better.”
What Solas said was… totally out of character for him… Was this the way he acted around the citizens? He acted so much more differently from what I’ve remembered. The poise that was demonstrated wasn’t as it was made out to be pre-death; It looked like he just woke from a nightmare…
“Conair? What’s it like to have a family?”
“Family, huh? Why’re you asking?”
“Nevermind, forget what I said. I shouldn’t be asking you kids those questions…”
...
We made it to the core of the market. Keeping my charade until the very end was pretty exhausting, but at least that ensured that Solas would have no suspicion of me. It wasn’t after a while until Solas left with some confidence that a little girl was able to make it back to her parents. Still, he had eyes on me; a habit of his. The place was teeming with people, the perfect environment for a situation like this.
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Here we are, the Ariole Archive. The bookstore was closer than I was to home, and that’s why I’m here. Dad used to always stop by here to pick up a few books, which was an excuse he would always use in order to hang out with his friend. That’s who my confidence is being placed on. The bells chimed as the door swung open. Smelt pretty earthy in this place, prolly since it looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in the past year or so. It was dusty as hell in this joint…
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Hey! Welcome, welcome!” came from the back. Hopefully it’s still Donovan running the place. He’s the only one that SHOULD have the knowledge to crack this book open. Slowly approaching the counter, I call out.
“Donovan? Donovaaaaan?”
“Oh! Well, did I just catch a familiar voice? Sounds a lot like the daughter of my favorite customer!”
“That’s me. Say, I have something for you to read. Or, something for you to learn.”
“Oh? I’ll be with you in just a sec there! Got a few things to sort out.”
Man, even after leaving the mercenary business, he’s still going strong with his bookstore. It’s always nice to see someone so passionate about something, but maybe he’s a bit too passionate though. Thought he would be all too tired by now.
“Well? What did you need? I’m all ears!”
“First of all, before we begin, have you not been outside much in the past few days or so?”
“Well, that kinda hurts. That's supposed to be what your old man’s supposed to do! Although, it is a shame that we haven’t talked in ages…”
“So would I assume that you were busy with your books and studying them?”
“Yeah more or less… Why?”
“Great.”
The dust from the probable years spent uncleaned spewed everywhere as I presented it to him. It was still pretty much unchanged from when Vita’s gifted it, only this time, something felt off having Donovan read it. As if almost a part of me was being taken apart and stolen… The pages, flipping over and over and over. It was driving me mad, waiting in anticipation.
“In all of my years of studying literature, I haven’t seen such a language before… But I do recognize one word on the last page.
“REALLY?! WHAT IS IT?!”
“Liberus. It simply says Liberus. This word, or name, was written in Fytri. Everything else is in runes that I don’t recognize.”
What the hell? What kind of word is Liberus? Is it a spell? A hex? If it was a name, I seriously have never heard of a person with it. Who would name their kid Liberus anyway? Even for the likes of Donovan couldn’t decipher the book…
“Sorry there Ran, no books that I possess have that form of language. Sorry!”
“I told you to stop calling me that…”
“Haha! Do stop by if you have the time! It’s always nice to see someone so curious about literature!”
“Thanks Donovan. Really do appreciate it.”
The chimes on the door rang as I waved goodbye. This damn book even stumped that genius? Now I’m really starting to wonder what this language is… Well, if Donovan didn’t know, then my dad surely will. Hopefully. My next stop was home anyway. I had to let them know I’m still alive, even as absurd as it may seem.
Here we go, at the front of this oh so familiar door. It hasn’t even been long, but something felt… amiss…. There wasn’t that same presence that I’ve always felt when coming home after a theft… No, I’m not gonna wait any longer.
The creaking of the door echoed throughout the house. The interior was drab, as always. The collected dust on the floors along with the earthy smell of rock walls haven’t changed. I set my robe on the chair next, walking the floors step by step.
“Dad! Vel! You guys home?”
“No response. That won’t prove anything though.”
Hammering the door to my dad’s room didn’t seem to garner an answer. Even though he would never talk the majority of the time, he still answers back when I knock on the door. It’s a habit of his.
“DAD! ARE YOU THERE?”
…
No response again. Now I’m legitimately worried. Opening the door, hoping for him to be at least in his bed, simply to have just fallen fast asleep.
He wasn’t there. He wasn’t fucking there.
“Shit, shit, SHIT! VEL?! VEL! WHERE ARE YOU! WHERE’S DAD!”
He wasn’t there either. WHERE DID EVERYONE GO?! Please don’t tell me my hunch about the minister was right. This can’t be real. What should I do? I have so much on my mind, it’s overwhelming. My head hurts, and I felt like my chest was starting to tense up. As much as I hated to do this, I flipped the house upside down to search for at least some form of proof that they were executed alongside me. The kitchen, the rooms, the outdoors. None of these places had anything, anything at all. I was desperate. Desperate for a reality that I could never reach.
*THUD*
“WHO’S THERE!?” I cried. My hands… I couldn’t control them… They were trembling. Even at the slightest noise, I sprang into high alert. Turns out, that thud wasn’t a person, but rather… a pair of my mother’s goggles, along with a note. I didn’t know that mom had extra pairs… I slowly approached the goggles and took the piece of paper from the crevice of the glass between the metal frame.
Today Rala, last week, Ranku has unfortunately passed. Our daughter was something, wasn’t she? It’s a shame that her last moments were filled with disappointment towards us two. I regret it. Me and Vel are going to be out for a while, and we can’t stick to Inwell any longer with this guy in power. If you do find yourself to have returned home, here’s a spare pair of goggles in case you need them. -Love, Stran & Vel
They’re… alive… Dad… Haha… I would never be disappointed with you… Reading through the note again, it was real, I couldn’t hold back my tears. My dad’s handwriting, his way of writing. IT’S REALLY HIM! I even thought I was dreaming, even though all of this felt like a huge dream to begin with. I rested on the floor, hand to my chest with the dried tears that ran across my face from earlier. With every sigh of relief that I took, the weight being lifted and the strain that my body took was unreal. But now… where… did they go..?
The note said nothing about where they were headed off to… Judging from the two only gates in the Inwell barricades, one would only assume that Vel and dad took the one at the Slum of Slums. At least our family wasn't THAT poor to be living at that place… But wouldn’t they be stopped by the guards? The minister explicitly said that none can leave the city unless given permission to prevent “spies” from entering and exiting. Yeah, right.
First off, this book has been non-stop on my damn mind… I was indifferent about it, and getting rid of it wasn’t an option. Who in their right mind would know what to do with this thing!? It’s just taking up space and there’s nothing here that’s even readable! Liberus… wait, these symbols, they seem… familiar…
My mom’s room. It hasn’t been opened in ages ‘cause we wanted to respect and preserve her works, but I couldn’t care about much of that anymore. Her journals are gonna be really handy. There might be a clue that could be useful. The door was already somewhat open though… Seems like dad and Vel took a map or something for their travels.
The room was still completely unchanged; Messy, and disheveled. The maps plastered on her wall, the pencils scattered on the floor, the hundreds of maps that she kept on the shelves. Completely untouched. Mom never had any habits for cleaning up for herself, making it especially hard for others to find where things are. But one thing she always kept by her desk was…
“There we go, her logs. Still sitting here as always. Perfect!”
Skimming through the pages, it was clear that it wasn’t in her logs at all. Mom tends to rip some pages out if they’re not interesting enough. Haha, It’s admirable how she loves to grab attention and highlight the peaks of her journeys, despite having many downs to them.
“Well, shit. It isn’t here. Searching this room is gonna be a nightmare to sift through. Well, there’s no reason to scramble over anything at the moment.”
So many damn pages… Wished she would actually take the time to organize herself. It would do me, and her a favor. Even near the tall ass shelves have papers hidden underneath them… Finally, after a grueling hour of just constant shuffling and peeling papers off the wooden planks, nothing. Absolutely nothing. The mystery shrouding this dumbass book is still haunting me. Why did that Vita give this to me anyway?!
Wait, mystery… Mom always loved solving mysteries… She always enjoyed being riddled by dad every now and then. She also solved many crime cases with AEGIS when she was still relatively famous… There’s no way she would work on those cases in this pigsty of a room. Is there some sort of other part to her room?
“Ah damn! Hit my shin… Wait…”
“Would you look over here… looks like she had something here all along…”
It was a large trap door leading to a basement of sorts. Since when did we even have a basement? There’s so much going on, I can’t even process a single thing going on here. Whatever. It was expected that she would have a secret of sorts like this. She was always hiding shit from everyone…
The stairs and walls weren’t even covered with wood nor any type of concrete… It felt like this was dug out by someone, probably dad chipped in most likely. This was a damn long fleet of stairs holy… At least these strange lanterns provided some form of light. There’s no doubt someone would break every bone in their bodies if there weren’t any of them.
Reaching the last flight of stairs, there were a vast amount of posters everywhere, with strings and many more attached to various maps and pictures. Is this seriously where she’s kept all of her actual work? This place is way neater, despite being pretty deep below the surface. The embedded stone tiles, along with the bricks lining the walls. This place was made to be underground. Of course, there were more shelves of random scrolls, but the desk in front of me was absolutely damn big; You could probably sleep comfortably on this thing…
“No… Not this… Wait, nah… HERE IT IS! FINALLY!”
The picture! Me and my mom went on a little hike around 13 years ago; And I specifically remember this odd looking monolith with strange symbols, which, wouldn’t you know it, happened to be the same symbols in this stupid book! It even looks like my mom tried to figure out what alphabet it was trying to use! Let’s see….
“Due diligence; the darkness has deceived, and is waiting to kill.”
The fuck does that even mean? This sounds like something a fanatical teen would write… Whatever that means, hopefully it’s enough to match each of the symbols with what’s written on the last page…
“Ok so, this rune goes with D… this one’s with A… Oh a V there…”
“To give and to receive, Awaken, Liberus..? That’s what it says?”
What the- The book just flew out of my hands?! What’s going on!? I instantly grabbed my knife, preparing for what was about to come from that book. The lanterns swayed left and right, the supports just barely holding themselves together and more importantly, this miasma emanating from the book as it shook so violently, it became a blur. The place rattled and shook with no end in sight. Then, it just… stopped…
“What the fuck just happened… What is this book…”
“Ugh… my head… Where am I…”
“A voice?! Where is it coming from? HELLO!?”
My head swiveled to the direction of the voice. There’s no chance that there’s anyone else here, but that’s when the book began to float. The bookmark ribbon began to move, almost like a limb, while a large eye appeared on the front cover of the book. Standing my ground with my knife in hand, preparing to attack.
“WOAH WOAH WOAH! WHO ARE YOU?! WHY ARE YOU POINTING THAT AT ME?!” The book shouts, waving its ribbon in my direction.
“I can't take any risks. Who are you?”
“Man, I should be the one asking YOU that question!”